Lady Devil - Chapter 78

#78

07. Delirium

“Come to your senses, Inette.”

My head was shaking uncontrollably up and down. It seemed I was being held by someone, but my entire skin was boiling as if I had been laid in a cauldron in the kitchen. Shadows and light alternately fell on my thin eyelids, making my closed eyes flicker with dark red and yellow. And the voice urgently calling me was…

“Can you hear my voice? Please listen.”

It was Johannes.

The problem was sleeping rough with a sick and tired body. Additionally, my mind, which had been tense and curled up due to constant stress, had suddenly relaxed after reuniting with Johannes.

Johannes himself seemed to have lost more strength than usual, taking considerable time to recover, and I fell asleep while being held by him. I remember the rustling sound when Johannes covered my body with his coat. At some point, he also seemed to have brushed off the night fog dew that had settled on my head.

It was after that when I completely lost consciousness. Though I probably just looked deeply asleep, sensitive Johannes must have had a bad feeling and tried to wake me up. If he hadn’t checked on my condition then, the darkness of that forest might have been the last darkness of my life. In any case, Johannes moved me to an inn he had spotted earlier.

Johannes’ rapid breathing falling on my forehead, the humidity of the inn, the musty smell of mold, and something like a shocked expression were vaguely felt even in my hazy consciousness.

Unfamiliar voices murmured from all directions. Well, they must have been quite surprised when one or two people covered in blood from head to toe barged in at dawn. Johannes’ urgent voice shouting to call for a priest was heard, and soon followed by the sound of a wooden door being flung open. Johannes laid me down on the bed.

Apparently trying to be considerate in their own way, the surface of the bed, thickly filled with straw, touched my skin. It’s a pity for them, but even under normal circumstances, it would have been an unsatisfactory sensation, and that day it felt like sharp blades. However, I couldn’t even utter a short complaint and just seemed to groan. My entire body felt like a cold ball of fire.

My consciousness, which had been barely maintaining itself, flickering several times, finally went out completely then. I’m not sure exactly when even a fraction of sensation returned.

“…Disinfect after removing the pus… blue solution…. And bloodletting…”

At a time I couldn’t tell if it was day or night, what resonated in the back of my head was the voice of an unfamiliar man. It must have been the priest. The man’s voice coming from behind me sounded muffled as if echoing from deep inside a cave. I didn’t even think to be wary. My eyelids were too heavy for that. In the end, I just listened without even opening my eyes.

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